Yes, your child can receive the COVID-19 vaccine in addition to other vaccines

DENVER (KDVR) – This is a question that worries many parents in Colorado: If my child is approved for the COVID-19 vaccine, can he or she also receive other vaccines at the same time?

According to UCHealth experts, the answer is yes.

the CDC changed its guidelines allowing the co-administration of vaccines and this is something that the American Academy of Pediatrics also supports.

“It is generally recommended, if you are going to receive several vaccines, to distribute them in some way on different arms so that [your child is] not completely in pain the rest of the day. But yes, you can get the COVID shot, the flu – whatever they need – you can do them all at the same time, ”said Dr. Michelle Barron, Senior Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at UCHealth.

As it is, children 12 and older are eligible to receive the vaccine here in Colorado.

According to CDC data, since the start of the pandemic, more than 1.5 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 have been diagnosed with COVID-19; more than 13,000 have been hospitalized.

In fact, when we look at the current data in our state: the age groups contracting the virus have changed.

It is not the crowd over 70 that is infected so frequently, but rather we are seeing higher rates of 12-15 years old.

Since many of these kids also need to get vaccinated for things like chickenpox, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), and measles before they go back to school, experts want you to know that regrouping the COVID-19 vaccine will have no impact on other vaccines. efficiency.

The good news for children is that many other vaccinations are now compiled into a single injection.

“The good thing is that there are actually combinations of them. So now they don’t need to be vaccinated individually like measles, mumps, chickenpox anymore, so you do them all at the same time. So you can just get the vaccine right away, which is good for them, ”said Dr Barron.

While children aged 12 and over are currently eligible to be vaccinated, Dr Barron says that around August or September, they predict that children aged 5 to 11 will also be eligible.